Look After You
by loveackshuly
Summary: Song fic based off of one of the best unlikely pairings I've ever done between Hermione and Theodore Teddy Nott. The song is "Look After You" by the Fray and it fits the relationship perfectly.


_**If I don't say this now I will surely break  
As I'm leaving the one I want to take  
Forgive the urgency but hurry up and wait  
My heart has started to separate**_

Hermione was turning into a liar. But the one being deceived was her own self. She kissed him back. There was a moment, just one, that exceeded the initial shock and surprise at the feel of soft lips against hers, and lingered before fear sunk in and regret forced her to run away. But in between, there was a moment when the Gryffindor was only thinking about the Slytherin's hand on her back and aware only of the pressure that his fingertips created while his mouth mimicked. Still, she denied it. To Teddy, to Ron, to everyone. But most importantly to herself.

This wasn't supposed to happen. It was always she and Ron. It always had been in a way and it was meant to stay that way. They were meant to fall in love and be together, but not only that, to _stay_ together. He was meant to be the one she lay awake at night thinking about and finally drifting into sleep to meet with again in the confines of dreams. When she hurried to Potions after breakfast, it was supposed to be because she wanted to save him a seat, not because she wanted to see how a certain Slytherin's morning went and have a chat before class.

But things weren't happening as they were supposed to and the world was against her it seemed. All because Hermione Granger's heart started to pull away... to separate... from Ronald Weasley's and there was no love between the famous pair of sidekicks. And it was not the latter's own doing. But rather, the former. And a different set of blue eyes that had a hold on her.

_**There now, steady love, so few come and don't go  
Will you won't you, be the one I always know?**_

There was so much doubt surrounding the two of them. And sadly, some of it lie without Hermione. It was so hard to find support in any one aside from Teddy. Even Harry had shunned her for the time being, calling her terrible things and expressing an anger that she'd never seen directed even near her direction in the past. He was siding with Ron, Ron who was so disgusted with the sight of her that he refused to be anywhere within Hermione's vicinity. It hurt. How could it not have? Her two best friends had turned their backs on her and for a reason that she couldn't comprehend. She was in love. Somehow through the mudslinging between the houses and the rebellion against house unity, the goal that they were working so hard to achieve that year, she'd fallen for Theodore Nott.

It was uncertain as to what that meant. The two still hardly knew one another in truth. How could she have been sure that he wouldn't turn his back on her? That she would always know him? There was no guarantee, but the heart was strong enough to hold onto faith. And so was Teddy. So many times, he assured her that he wouldn't go anywhere, that they were in this together no matter what it meant. Because it was worth it.

Slytherins were rumoured to be clever and cunning. Hermione couldn't disagree after one of them had managed to steal her heart.

_**When I'm losing my control, the city spins around  
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down**_

"Sweetie, please...don't cry. You know I'd come with you if it would help."

"I'm not crying."

"Right. You don't need to hide it from me."

"I just get... I'm just... emotional. I'm supposed to be strong right now. Crying defeats that whole purpose. I hide it from everyone."

"You don't always have to be. Be strong for everyone else and let me take care of you. I like it."

Barely eighteen years old and the weight of the world on her shoulders. How could she do her part? How could she be what Harry needed to defeat the Dark Lord? How could she manage all of this? She couldn't. Not alone. Not with Teddy. As time progressed, that much became clearer. He could see things in her that other couldn't. It was scary, but exciting at the same time and Hermione had never been loved like that by another person. She doubted she ever would again.

There were times when all she did was cry. For hours and hours about nothing in particular. It was mostly at night where there was no one there to bear witness to such a thing. She couldn't let anyone see that, surely. It wouldn't just shed light on the fact that she was not the strong young woman everyone so highly expected her to be, but also that she was a mess who sometimes, felt like she was out of her control with no one to slow things down.

But Teddy could. And Teddy did. And when she fell apart, he picked up the pieces. It didn't matter how young they were. Love wasn't ever something that was assigned an age limit. Nor was it in tune with matching colours on school robes or the purity of blood. It was only connected with the ability to share emotions that ran so deep that someone could open up beyond themselves and allow another person to share that with them.

_**If ever there was a doubt  
My love she leans into me  
This most assuredly counts  
She says most assuredly**_

"Sometimes I wish we could just hide away."

"When this is over? We will."

"What if I don't come back? What if _you_ don't come back? What if.."

"What if we both come back and can be together?"

"I'm scared that we can't."

"We WILL."

Whenever she had those doubts again, he erased them. It was so hard not to think about the possibilities that the future could bring in terms of war. And they were both _right there_, staring it right in the face. Staring death in the face, essentially. But he made it possible to look past that, to the future beyond war. One that they could share together.

There were time when they argued. Disagreements about silly things, misunderstandings and words taken the wrong way. They were times when they hurt the other without any sort of intention. And there were doubts. But they were always overcome with the fact that they couldn't survive without the other one as war carried on and tragedy continually struck. And that what counted. He always assured her of that.

_**It's always have and never hold  
You've begun to feel like home  
What's mine is yours to leave or take  
What's mine is yours to make your own**_

Hermione had always thought she had once loved Ron. She'd certainly always been able to. He was right there. Her best friend. But though he might have had her heart at one point, he couldn't hold onto it. When Teddy came along, she often wondered if it wasn't something else she felt for Ron -- not love. Because nothing ever felt how it did when she was with Teddy. And what she felt for him couldn't have been given any other name.

The future was still unclear for the two of them. They both had hopes and reams for their lives together and they would work damn hard to achieve them so that in the end, they would still have one another and be happy. But it was still to come and thus, it couldn't be understood for sure. One thing that could, however, was the past. How they had gotten to the point they were now and what it meant that they were in love in spite of everything crashing down around them

The pieces of Hermione that were missing were filled by Teddy. And she liked to hope that she had the same effect on him. Countless times she'd tried to tell him exactly how much he meant to her, but she always felt that when it came down to it, words would always fall short. The best way to tell him, was to explain how he'd begun to feel like home.

No matter where she came from or where she would end up.

_**Oh, oh be my baby  
Ohh Oh  
Oh, be my baby  
I'll look after you**_


End file.
